Device for controlling the air in machines working with suction



Sept. 25, 1956 H. ALIX 2,764,407

DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING THE AIR IN MACHINES WORKING WITH SUCTION Filed Sept. 26, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 TB) Ha Sept. 25. 1956 H. ALlX 2,764,407

DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING THE AIR IN MACHINES WORKING WITH SUCTION Filed Sept. 26, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 T I I I 70a I I I l 7 30 I I 1 i 6 32 i l I l l 6 6 I-i 4 l 6 Q Inventor:

fl H/M/J flux Sept. 25. 1956 H. ALIX navxca FOR CONTROLLING THE AIR IN MACHINES WORKING WITH SUCTION Filed Sept. 26, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 United States Patent DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING THE AIR IN MACHINES WORKING WITH SUCTION Hans Alix, Otfenbach (Main), Germany, assignor to Faber & Schleicher Aktiengesellschaft, Olfenbach (Mam), Germany, a German body corporate Application September 26, 1952, Serial No. 311,765

Claims priority, application Germany October 3, 1951 6 Claims. (Cl. 271-26) This invention relates to a device for controlling the air in machines working with suction, such as printing machines for example, and in which two or more suction devices are simultaneously served by one vacuum pump.

The methods and devices which were used up to the present were deficient in several respects. It was always the suction device having the largest cross sectional passage which determined the height of the vacuum also for the other devices. If for instance, in a printing machine, the suction roller and the suction nozzles of the sheet stacking device were served both by the same pump, the larger cross sectional area of the suction roller would determine the vacuum pressure. It was not possible to assign the required higher vacuum to the suction nozzles of the sheet stacking device in preference to the suction roller although the latter could be operated on a considerably lower vacuum.

The same deficiency was observed when, for example, the suction nozzles of the sheet feeding device were served by one and the same vacuum pump simultaneously with the suction roller, or with the suction nozzles of the sheet registering device.

The arrangement in accordance with the invention, however, eliminates these disadvantages and enables suction devices with different vacuum pressures, or with air passages of different cross sections, to be served by only one pump, whereas with the hitherto known methods and devices each of these suction devices had to be provided with an individual pump, especially if the various sub-pressures had to be accurately maintained.

In one of its more important aspects the new device according to the invention consists in the provision of means for conducting the flow of air from one common pump separately through'each additional suction device, or user as it will be called hereinafter, and to control the said flow of air so as to create in each suction line exactly the vacuum pressure which the respective users require, irrespective of the cross section of the air passages in each case.

The means which are provided in accordance with the invention provide that, apart from the connection of the main suction port of the vacuum pump to the first user, one or more additional conduits are connected up to the pressure regulating valve in the suction line or, if a rotary piston blower is used, to an additional suction opening usually provided in such machines.

Other means consist in the provision of reduction valves in the conduits of the additional suction devices by means of which the required height of vacuum can in each case be regulated independent of the other users.

These and other improvements of the device forming the subject matter of the present invention will now be further explained by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which several embodiments of the invention are diagrammatically illustrated by way of example. In these drawings:

Fig. 1 illustrates the arrangement of a vacuum pump 2,764,407 Patented Sept. 25, 1956 2 with its pertaining conduits with an automatic valve provided therein.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the valve 11 shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows an arrangement similar to Fig. l in which an additional conduit is connected to both the automatic valve and to a second suction port of the pump.

Fig. 4 shows in vertical section a by-pass valve provided in the air conduit in its open condition.

Fig. 5 is a section on line AB of Fig. 5.

Fig. 6 illustrates the valve shown in Fig. 5 closed, and

Fig. 7 a section thereof on line C-.-D of Fig. 6.

In the diagrammatic representation of the invention as shown in Fig. l, the numeral 1 denotes an electric motor which is used for driving the vacuum pump 2. This pump is provided with two sockets, of which the socket 3 serves for the connection of the suction conduit 4 and the socket 5 for the connection of the pressure conduit 6. Both these conduits are in connection with a valve 7, to which a handle 8 is fixed, by means of which the valve 7 can be opened or closed as required. From the valve 7 the suction pipe 4a leads in known manner to the suction device 41 of the sheet feeding mechanism as the main or first user, while the pressure conduit 6a is connected to a blowing nozzle 42. When the valve 7 is open with the position of the handle 8 as shown in full lines, both pipes 4a and 6a are in communication with the vacuum pump 2. This position of the valve is more clearly shown in Figs. 4 and 5, from which it will be seen that the valve body 7 is provided with communication passages 30 and 31, and with vent holes 32 and 33. In the open position of the valve the passage 30 connects the pressure lines 6 and 6a, while the passage 31 connects the suction conduits 4 and 4a.

Closing valve 7 by the handle 8 being turned down as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the compressed air from the conduit 6 is allowed to escape through the tube 9 via the vent hole 32. The vent hole 33 is closed or replaced by a plug 10a in order to prevent loss of suction air. From Figs. 4 to 7 it will be seen that valve 7 acts as a two-way valve for the compressed air, and as an ordinary closing valve for the suction air.

Built into the suction line is a regulating valve 11 which is shown on an enlarged scale in Fig. 2. To this valve is connected the suction pipe 13 from the suction roller 12. A regulating valve 14 is built also into this pipe by means of which the quantity of air flowing through the pipe 13 can be regulated. This regulating valve 14 serves to prevent the vacuum in the conduit 13 to the second suction operated device 12, 27 from exceeding a certain value. Thus, it is possible in accordance with the invention to maintain vacua of different magnitude in the several suction devices of the machine without danger that the difierent sub-atmospheric pressures aifect one another. A short pipe 40, open to the atmosphere, is provided through which air can be admitted into valve 14 from the atmosphere under the control of a compression spring, such as spring 20 in Fig. 2, as is conventional for valves of the kind shown as valve 14.

The arrangement of valve 11 will now be more fully described with reference to Fig. 2 of the drawings. According to this figure the valve housing is provided with four internally threaded v sockets 15, 19, 24, and 25. Screwed into the socket 15 is a bearing 16 for the spindle 17 of the valve plate 18, in which the said spindle 17 is longitudinally guided. A compression spring 20 is provided to press the valve plate 18 against its seat in the socket 19. The suction pipe 13 from the suction roller 12 is connected to the valve 11 by its threadedend being screwed into the socket 19 so that, in the position of rest, the suction line 13 will be closed by the valve plate 18.

The pressure of the spring 20 can be regulated by screwing the bearing 16 more or less into the socket 15. A lock nut 21 serves to fix the bearing 16 in position. The sockets 24 and 25 serve for the connection of the suction pipe 4 to the valve.

During the operation of the vacuum pump 2 sub-atmospheric pressure is created in the suction line 4, which pressure can be regulated by means of the valve 11 just described. According to the pressure of the spring 20 the valve 18 is lifted under the action of the pump so that air can flow from the perforations 26 in the suction roller 12 through the pipe 13 into the suction line 4 and thence into the pump. The vacuum thus created in the suction head 27 of the pipe 13 is used in the operation of the suction roller 12, as shown, but may be used for other purposes in the machine if desired.

In the example shown in Fig. 3 the pump 2 is intended to represent a rotary piston blower with an additional suction socket 22 connected by a pipe 23 with pipe 13. This additional suction socket is a well known arrangement in blowers of the said type and normally serves to refill the evacuated spaces of the pump with atmospheric air and to thus attain a greater delivery of compressed air. This influx of air, in accordance with the invention, can also be utilized for serving an additional suction device in the machine. In the example of Fig. 3 the air entering through the valve 11 as well as the air entering through the second suction nozzle 22 of the pump can be used in the operation of the additional user, which also in this case may be the suction roller as has been shown in the example of Fig. 1.

What I claim is:

1. In a printing machine of the class having several suction operated devices and suction lines communicating with said devices, and common vacuum pump means for creating a sub-atmospheric pressure in said suction lines, the improvements comprising a main suction operated device and a main suction line connected therewith, first pressure regulating valve means included in said main suction line, an auxiliary suction line connected with the main suction line through said valve means for supplying air to the pump means, said first valve means including closure means for closing the auxiliary line yieldably biased into the closing position and responsive to the suction in the main suction line for sucking auxiliary air into the main suction line through said auxiliary line, at least one auxiliary suction operated device connected to said auxiliary line, and second regulating valve means included in the auxiliary line, said second valve means comprising a spring actuated closure member responsive to the sub-atmospheric pressure in the auxiliary line for regulating the pressure therein and further comprising an air intake for admitting air into the auxiliary line independently of the pressure in the same line.

2. In a printing machine of the class having several suction operated devices and suction lines communicating with said devices, and common vacuum pump means for creating a sub-atmospheric pressure in said suction lines, the improvements comprising a main suction operated device and a main suction line connected therewith, cutoif valve means included in said main line, first pressure regulating valve means included in said main line between said cut-otf valve means and said pump means, at least one auxiliary suction operated device, an auxiliary suction line connecting said auxiliary device with the main line through said first valve means, said first valve means including closure means for closing the auxiliary line yieldably biased into the closing position and responsive to the suction in the main suction line for sucking auxiliary air into the main suction line through said auxiliary line, and second pressure regulating valve means included in said auxiliary line for regulating the pressure therein independently of the pressure in the main line.

3. In a printing machine of the class having several suction operated devices and suction lines communicating with said devices, and common vacuum pump means for creating a sub-atmospheric pressure in said suction lines, the improvements comprising a main suction operated device, a main suction line connecting said device with the pump means, cut-off valve means included in the main line, first pressure regulating valve means in cluded in the main line between said device and the pump means, at least one auxiliary suction operated device op erating at a lower vacuum than the main suction device, an auxiliary suction line connecting the auxiliary device to the main line through said regulating valve means, said first valve means including closure means for closing the auxiliary line yieldably biased into the closing position and responsive to the suction in the main suction line for sucking auxiliary air into the main suction line through said auxiliary line, and second pressure regulating valve means in said auxiliary line for limiting the sub-atmospheric pressure in the said line to a predetermined value of the vacuum.

4. In a printing machine of the class having several suction operated devices and suction lines communicating with said devices, and common vacuum pump means for creating a sub-atmospheric pressure in said suction lines, the improvements comprising a main suction operated device, a main suction line connecting said device with the pump means, said pump means comprising a rotary piston blower having a main suction port and an auxiliary suction port, said main line being connected to said main suction port, first pressure regulating valve means included in said main line, at least one auxiliary suction operated device, an auxiliary suction line connecting said auxiliary device to said auxiliary port and to said main line through the first valve means, said first valve means including closure means for closing the auxiliary line yieldably biased into the closing position and responsive to the suction in the main suction line for sucking auxiliary air into the main suction line through said auxiliary line, and second pressure regulating valve means included in said auxiliary line for regulating the pressure in the said line independently of the pressure in the main line to limit the sub-atmospheric pressure in the auxiliary line to a predetermined value.

5. A printing machine according to claim 3 further having a pressure operated device and a pressure line connecting the pressure side of said pump means with said pressure device, and wherein the said cut-ofi? means are included in the pressure line also and comprise a valve control member movable between a position opening the pressure line and the main suction line and a position connecting the pressure line to the atmosphere and closing the main suction line.

6. In a printing machine of the class having several suction operated devices and suction lines communicating with said devices, and common vacuum pump means for creating a sub-atmospheric pressure in said suction lines, the improvements comprising a main suction operated device and a main suction line connected therewith, pressure regulating valve means included in said main suc- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Schuessler Nov. 20, 1906 Niebling Apr. 23, 1907 (Other references on following page) 5 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,804,60 Gilbert May 12, 1931 1403 93 Kilgore Jam 1 1 2 2,138,527 Newman 1938 1,408,688 Broadmeyer Mar. 7, 1922 2175376 Bush. 1939 1,523,698 Lose} Jan. 20, 1925 2,342,895 Fell 1944 1 97 743 Broadmeyer Jam 1 1929 5 2,634,743 MOTFISOH P 14, 1953 2,639,855 Damels May 26, 1953 1,736,483 Broadmeyer Nov. 19, 1929 

